Living together in an age of inequalities : an overview of economic inequalities and poverty in the United Kingdom

Abstract

This article presents and analyses recent figures about inequality and poverty in the United Kingdom, which are both central issues in the ability of members of a society to live together. It points out that Britain did experience a significant increase in income inequality in the 1980s in particular, although since then the UK’s overall income inequality has been essentially stable – albeit with a pulling away of the Top 1%. A fairly similar picture emerges for wealth, for which inequality fell for much of the 20th century (due significantly to expanding home ownership), although there has been some reversal in this long-term trend since the turn of the century. The article then discusses some of the causes for this rise in inequality following the shift to neoliberal capitalism, brought on by the Thatcher governments in the 1980s. It briefly presents the IFS Deaton Review of inequalities launched in 2019, which seeks to get a broader understanding of inequalities as social and political – and not just economic – phenomena. Lastly, it presents some key policy prescriptions for how inequality and poverty could be tackled. (The article considers these issues before the massive global cataclysm of the Covid-19 pandemic, as of March 2020.)